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Dr. B., Veterinarian

Category: Dog Veterinary

Satisfied Customers: 20840

Experience: Hello, I am a small animal veterinarian and am happy to discuss any concerns & questions you have on any species.

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My brother has a beagle I believe it is and she about 10

Customer Question

My brother has a beagle I believe it is and she about 10 years old. She barely moving around and limping when she doesJA: I'm sorry to hear that. Have you looked to see if there is a wound on their foot?Customer: she has a lump on her tummyJA: What is the beagle's name?Customer: ChloeJA: Is there anything else the veterinarian should be aware of about Chloe?Customer: She barely eating or drinking She doing alot of staring off into space

Hello & welcome, I am Dr. B, a licensed veterinarian and I would like to help you today. I do apologize that your question was not answered before. Different experts come online at various times; I just came online, read about your wee one’s situation, and wanted to help.

Again I do apologize that my colleagues could not aid you sooner, but can you tell me:

How long has she been showing signs?

What leg is she favoring?

Any swelling, sores, boney crunching or instability when you feel the leg?

Now based on her signs and her age, we have a few concerns. Specifically, we’d be most suspicious of underlying arthritis causing her joint pain and thus her limping and reluctance to move. Otherwise, we’d also have to be worried about possible spinal pain (from disc issues, inflammation, growths/abscesses compressing the spine, etc) but thankfully not paralysis at this stage.

Now since she sounds to be severely affected (and her appetite loss and staring sound like a dog in pain trying to cope), I have to say that it would be ideal to get her seen so her local vet can start her on a strong dog friendly pain relief (ie Metacam, Rimadyl, Onsior, Previcox, Tramadol, etc). And I have to say that these would be our drugs of choice and there are no appropriate home options since most are dog toxic and we cannot use Aspirin if she isn’t eating properly (for fear of causing a perforating stomach ulcer).

Anyway, any delay and we’d want to also consider some supportive care for her. To start, you can consider warm compressing the hip and hind leg area. You can use a heating pad or even make a safe warm compress by filling a sock with uncooked rice, microwaving it for a few minutes, shaking it to distribute the heat and then apply to the area as needed. As well, as the warmth relaxes her muscle, you may also be able to massage the area if she is amenable to you doing so.

Furthermore, just since she sounds like a chronic case that is worsening, you can try some OTC joint supports. Now these tend to be longer term supports but still could be helpful just now too. First, we may find that supplementing her with glucosamine and chondroitin could help her move more comfortably. These are a nutrient supplement that is available at your vets, pet shops, and health food stores (as capsules, liquids, and even treats). There are a range of products on the markets and the ones we typically use for dogs in this situation would be Cosequin, Seraquin, and Flexivet. It works by aiding joint suppleness by helping cartilage replenish itself and blocking enzyme destruction of cartilage in the joint. Often we can find this helpful in animals and it can may reduce some of her discomfort. Normally we give dogs 300mg glucosamine + 50mg chondroitin a day per 10 pounds of body weight.

Further to this, another support is Omega 3 & 6 fish oils (EPA/DHA). These are actually a natural anti-inflammatory agent that people use to ease discomfort in inflamed muscles. So, these could be used at this stage as well. A proper daily dose for her size would be 20mg EPA/DHA per pound of her body weight. So, this too could be a consideration for her .

Overall, her signs do suggest a chronic progressive joint disease that is coming to a head and becoming too severe for her to cope with. So, we can use the above but would want her local vet to assess her so that dog safe pain relief can be dispensed to ease her discomfort and get her settled.